A 116-page report recommends that the Montvale, Woodcliff Lake and Park Ridge consolidate police departments to save costs, but it comes with strong criticism from the three police chiefs.

Matrix Consulting Group in Mountain View, Calif., compiled the report after two years of research into the departments' operations, crime rates, salaries and other data. The report was released this month after an advisory committee of borough and police officials reviewed it.

The report, commissioned by the three boroughs, presents three options for merging their departments, which altogether have 60 positions, into a Joint Police Agency.

Each of the three options calls for one chief and eliminates many other top officers. Two of the options call for 35 officers, and the other calls for 31.

Option 1 would eliminate 11 positions to save about $1.4 million annually. Option 2 would eliminate 15 sworn positions, saving about $1.9 million a year. Option 3 would eliminate nine positions, saving about $1 million annually.

The report also estimates there would be a $632,500 transition cost to merge. All the options would realize net savings by Year 2 and maximum savings within five years, according to the report.

The report notes that positions would be eliminated not through layoffs but rather from officers retiring. The report said it took into account a historical attrition rate for the departments of 5 percent, or about three officers a year.

"It's not realistic," said Park Ridge Police Chief Joseph Madden, speaking for the three chiefs. One officer had retired among the three departments in the past couple of years, he said.

The three police chiefs also took issue with other aspects of the study.

They argued that public safety could be jeopardized because of decreased manpower and slower response time.

"A lot of time the reason for consolidation is there is a surplus. In this area, there is no surplus of public safety personnel," Madden said.

Madden said the report relied on formulas and "best management practices" that are not supported by credible law enforcement agencies such as the state police. The consultants used internally developed formulas to produce a specific result, Madden said.

The chiefs also think the report isn't realistic about transitioning costs, Madden said. For example, the report allocates $120,000 to build a new facility, but this could cost considerably more.

The report includes alternative suggestions if the boroughs decide not to merge forces. For example, there could be combined training, a single records system or a tri-borough criminal investigations unit.

Once the boroughs review the recommendations, they will decide what actions should be taken. If the decision is made to merge, it would go to a referendum, Woodcliff Lake Mayor Jeffrey Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith said he and other Woodcliff Lake officials have not yet gone through the report page by page, and many people have a lot of questions about it — such as exactly to whom the single police chief would report.

Goldsmith said he thinks the consolidation could help lower the burden on taxpayers, but it has yet to be determined whether the savings would be worth it and if consolidation would be detrimental to safety.

"If there are better ways to be more cost-efficient, we have to evaluate it," Goldsmith said.

Montvale Mayor Roger Fyfe also said his governing bodies have not had a chance to review all the documents. Park Ridge Mayor Terry Maguire could not be reached last week.